SHATTERED LIVES with Donna R. Gore, “LadyJustice”

Examining the effects of those who have survived violent crime and how it has impacted their lives.

Real people, real tragedy, real help.

Saturdays at 5pm ET Listen LIVE or podcast:  CLICK HERE

You know it, yes you do! You’re sitting there “people watching” and here comes someone using crutches, or in one of those electric wheelchairs, or walking with a limp….be honest, what’s your first reaction? Do you look away and pretend that person was invisible or didn’t exist? Do you become overly friendly, reaching out, touching, and probably talking louder than normal?

Whatever your reaction is, it’s your reaction; own it. In a world where political correctness is the new law and order, none of us will be meeting the expectations of different and diverse people.

However, education and dialogue is the key to change, not a change in politics.

Shattered Lives welcomes discussion, controversial or not, in an effort to educate and continue to make positive change.

 

Changing attitudes about disability requires equal parts art, science and magic. In Getting It, Melissa Marshall chronicles the development of her formula for presenting disability diversity training. She takes us from an inner city high school classroom to corporate training rooms as she explores various methods of having people “get it” about disability. What she wants them to get is simple: people with disabilities are the same as everyone else.

Getting It, like her overall approach to training is insightful, light –hearted witty and informal. Her philosophy is that training can be fun without sacrificing discussion of the political and cultural realities of having a disability in our society. She examines issues of race and class and how they compound disability-based discrimination. Never preachy, she challenges the reader to re-examine his or her own attitudes about disability, as well as about the world in general.

Whether you are a disability diversity trainer, a multi-cultural diversity trainer, a leader who wants to change attitudes in your own organization or someone who wants to increase your own understanding of disability issues,Getting It is an essential read.

 

Melissa Marshall is a life-long disability rights advocate. She graduated from Hampshire
College, where she majored in Disability Studies. She obtained her law degree from the University of Connecticut, School of Law. She was the founding Director of the Protection and Advocacy for Mentally Ill Persons Program at Connecticut Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities, as well as the founding Executive Director of the Disabilities Network of Eastern Connecticut, a Center for Independent Living. For 13 years she provided training and technical assistance in the Americans with
Disabilities Act as a consultant.

She has conducted extensive training in disability awareness and is the author of Getting It: Persuading Organizations and Individuals to be Comfortable with People with Disabilities, published by People with Disabilities Press. Her clients included corporations, non-profit organizations, school districts, government agencies, municipalities and universities.

Melissa is the former Executive Director of Advocacy Unlimited, an organization that provides training to people with psychiatric disabilities in the community and in institutions training in their legal rights. Most recently, she was the Executive Director of the Connecticut Business Leadership Network (CTBLN) which supports businesses in recruiting, hiring and retaining employees with disabilities.

She is presently a consultant for the Governor’s Prevention Partnership where she is working on an initiative to reduce bullying and harassment of students with disabilities.